"The Freeze Private Contractors in Iraq Act"

[Eric J in MN]

An email from John Hall (D-NY):

Dear Eric,

I want to let you know that this week I introduced legislation today that would prevent increases in the number of private security contractors operating in Iraq.

My bill, The Freeze Private Contractors in Iraq Act, would prohibit federal agencies from entering into contracts that would increase the number of private security contractors in Iraq above the number present in Iraq on September 1, 2007.

It is past time for us to reduce our involvement in Iraq. As the President is forced to reduce troop levels in Iraq due to a lack of replacement troops, our presence must actually decrease, not be supplemented by an increase in security contractors who operate with little to zero accountability.

Since the beginning of the Iraq War, the use of private security contractors has multiplied exponentially. The number of armed contractors operating in the battle zone is unprecedented in the history of U.S. military engagements. News reports estimate that the number ranges from 20,000 to 50,000 or higher. According to federal spending data, since 2004 federal agencies have paid almost $1 billion to the contractor agency Blackwater USA alone.

Security contractors in Iraq operate outside both the Uniform Code of Military Justice and Iraqi law. During the first year of the American occupation, the American Administrator issued a decree that exempted security companies and their employees from accountability under Iraqi law for deaths and injuries caused in the execution of their duties.

These private security contractors operate in a virtual no-man's-land when it comes to the law. They are accountable to no one, using lethal force against civilians and increasing the animosity Iraqis feel towards Americans, thereby making the situation less safe for American troops in the field. Recent events have even led the Iraqi government to call for Blackwater to be expelled from the country.

I am also a co-sponsor of two bills, H.R. 2740 and H.R. 369, which would establish legal accountability for private security contractors operating in a war zone. H.R. 369, The Transparency and Accountability in Security Contracting Act, would clarify that all private security workers operating under contract (or subcontract) by a government agency in the war zone are subject to the Military Extraterritorial Justice Act (MEJA), which is to be enforced by the Department of Justice. H.R. 2740, would ensure that all contractors working for a U.S. government agency would be covered by federal criminal codes. H.R. 2740 would also establish F.B.I. investigative units in the war zone charged with investigating allegations of misconduct.

These legislative actions are scheduled to be considered next week, and I look forward to voting to rein in Blackwater and other bad actors in the private security business.

Getting control of our careening policy in Iraq is at the top of my agenda, along with changing our energy policy, rebuilding our infrastructure, and providing relief to our middle-income families who are being squeezed from all sides. We just passed the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, to insure millions of children who currently have no coverage, and I hope President Bush withdraws his veto threat and signs it. It is astonishing that he considers $23 billion for children's health excessive, but at the same time he is asking for $200 billion more for the ill-conceived war in Iraq.

I'm working in DC and in the 19th District to serve my constituents and to get our country on a sustainable path economically, diplomatically and environmentally. Please help me continue this fight by making a contribution at www.johnhallforcongress.com/contribute

The third quarter filing period ends at midnight on Sunday, and donations made before then will count toward our next FEC filing. A strong showing is important because the media, opponents and allies alike will all be watching. We need to show them a strong reelection campaign is underway.

Thank you for all your support and feedback.



Congressman John Hall
NY-19

[robinlynne]

1. That's great, but there are currently 140,000 or so already there....

[mvccd1000]

5. Not according to John Hall... he says 20,000 - 50,000

And I'd tend to think that even that number is a bit inflated.

Are you sure you're not confusing security contractors with the guys who run the gyms, cook the meals, fix the trucks, or make the ice? There are a lot more of those than there are security contractors.

[robinlynne]

6. I don't have the articles to back me up, but I'm sure Iraq For Sale, the movie

has the accurate numbers. I read about this a long time ago, over a year. I'm sure there are many many more than any number we can get officially. But I honestly don't have the numbers. It was in 2005 or 6 an equal number to the number of soldiers we had there.
edited to add: I am against all privatization anyway, be it cooks, the poeple serving the lobsters in Iraq, or those embroidering the army hand towels (I think each embroidery cost us around 30.00). oh, yes, and the dirty water they sold us for the soldier's use, which cost more than perrier.. That needs to go too.

[warren pease]

2. Good first step...

Second step is to call them what they are: pathological mercenaries who kill for a buck and aren't answerable to either the Constitution or the Military Code of Justice.

Next step is to get them the hell out of there.

Third step is to make their presence illegal in the US, deport any who aren't US citizens, and charge the remainder with war crimes.

Fourth step is to bring their execs, notably the wingnut fundie Erik Prince, up on international wars crimes charges.

Fifth step is to add another article to HR-333 charging Cheney with conspiracy to circumvent Constitutional limits on things like cruel and unusual punishment by contracting it out to NGOs with no US accountability.

Sixth step is to take Cheney out and hang him, but since I'm against the death penalty, I'll settle for life at Abu Ghraib under the same conditions as our captured "terrorist suspects" have endured.

I'm particularly fond of the shots of "our troops" -- you know, the ones we're always supposed to support -- mugging for the camera over demolished corpses in body bags and presiding over crass humiliations and hideously sadistic forms of physical torture. Thumbs up, troopers. A job well done, and I hope your dreams are populated by angry ghosts for the rest of your pathetic lives.

Once Cheney's out of the picture, I'm pretty cool with the whole issue, as long as Bush, Rice, Hadley, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, Libby, Perle, Wolfowitz, Kristol, Armitage, Bremmer, Negroponte and a few dozen others follow Dicky to Abu Ghraib in short order.


wp

Edited for tpyos

[scarletwoman]

3. I heartily endorse your program! (nt)

[Eric J in MN]

4. I'd like for no taxpayer money to go to private security.

We already pay for a military and police force.

But John Hall may be proposing legislation more likely to pass.